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Family believes body recovered in Lake Tahoe is missing Hawaii man

Leila Fujimori
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COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA

Marc Ho Chio Ma went missing on Lake Tahoe in June 2017.

The body of Marc Ma, a 21-year-old Hawaii man who went missing while paddleboarding on Lake Tahoe in June 2016, may have been found.

Keith Cormican of the nonprofit organization Bruce’s Legacy said he informed the family of the discovery of the body on Sunday. Cormican said he used a remote-operated vehicle on Saturday and Sunday.

Positive identification is pending. But Matt Ma told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that based on the physical description and the clothing, the family believes his brother Marc has been found.

Ma, a graduate of ‘Iolani School, was a defensive end on the University of Nevada Wolf Pack football team, when he went on a paddleboard trip with several friends and they encountered strong winds off Lake Tahoe’s west shore. The other paddleboarders turned back toward shore because of high winds but noticed one person was missing, authorities said last year. Ma’s board was found adrift. A two-day, multi-agency search for him was unsuccessful.

Cormican said his group, which does search and recovery for drowning victims, began their search on Saturday. The body was found and recovered Sunday in 240 feet of water in the West Shore Cafe area of Lake Tahoe, where Ma was last seen.

A 2014 ‘Iolani graduate, Ma was a first-team ILH football all-star in 2012 and 2013 as a member of the Raiders’ defensive line and was an honorable mention All-State pick as a senior. Listed at 6 feet 2 and 230 pounds, Ma redshirted at Nevada in fall 2015 and was heading into his sophomore year with the Wolf Pack.

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